Digital Marketing – Benefits of Video Marketing on YouTube

We all know that effective marketing ensures the success of every business, big or small. By getting the word out there and by attracting more customers, a business thrives and survives.

Consequently, marketing needs to be smart. Being smart with marketing involves strategies that are geared toward a well-defined audience or target market while focusing on benefits dictated by the audience’s interests, needs, and desires.

These strategies needed to be delivered in the right place, at the right time – when the audience is attentive and open to the message being conveyed.

Marketing for Business: An Ever-Changing Playing Field with Technology

To drive meaningful business results that fit today’s modern world, more and more businesses are jumping into the realm of digital or online marketing. Traditional marketing is not dead though as it is still useful, but over the years, the growing popularity of digital marketing and the significant advantages it can offer has compelled marketing avenues to give it the attention it deserves.

Over the years, digital marketing has revolutionized the way businesses advertise their products and services. Substantial transformation driven by Information Technology, influenced the way companies carry out business – pushing digital marketing as an important, economical, and scalable medium for creating market presence and profitability.

A well-executed digital marketing strategy can help “level” the playing field against larger and more established competitors. More so, it is a less-expensive and time-saving alternative than traditional marketing which makes it a viable option for local and small businesses.

This proves to be beneficial especially that in today’s tight economy, marketing budgets are sometimes cut due to cash flow concerns.

In 2013, a survey by Gartner, Inc. (US-based Information Technology research and advisory firm) showed that 28% of marketers have reduced advertising budgets to shift to digital marketing. They do so to stretch their funds further for higher ROI. Also, statistics by Gartner revealed that marketers allocated 12.5% of their funds for digital marketing budget.

On another note, it seems like technology has progressed at a phenomenal pace in the last two decades than any other time in history. And as long as there is technology, digital marketing will continue to evolve, giving new and small businesses the chance to build their companies from the ground up. With this, digital marketing through social media, banner ads, websites, and YouTube videos has become an increasingly popular initiative.

This enables target audiences to see more content; become more familiar with the company’s brand, product, or services; and by process, build trust. Indeed, social media plays a critical role in online marketing. Routine updates and posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest can form part of a company’s social media strategies. However, a great video content which is optimized for massive viewing and sharing, can undeniably catapult a business’ marketing success. This is where YouTube’s full viral potential should be unleashed.

The Power of YouTube Videos in Digital Marketing

Since Google purchased YouTube, video promotion over the Internet has increased the benefits of digital marketing. Why? Because YouTube, by default, takes advantage of Google’s search engine algorithm, making it easier for target audiences to find “you.” Also, integrating YouTube into a company’s website can drive the site notches higher into Google’s search results. Thus, YouTube videos have the highest chance of going viral.

An added bonus to using YouTube for a company video (rather than Vimeo or other video platforms), is that embedding a YouTube link on a website will afford viewers faster download time.

A huge number of Internet users visit YouTube every now and then to watch or upload videos. A Google report in April 2014 showed that 1 billion people use YouTube with at least 4 billion video views per day, and an estimated 300 new videos uploaded per minute. In its October 2014 report, it was found out that in US alone, 81.9% of Internet users aged 14 to 17, use YouTube. On the other hand, Google’s November 2014 data showed 85% of adult internet users globally, but excluding China, visit YouTube on a regular basis.

This overwhelming statistics show YouTube as the world’s largest and most powerful video site (also, the world’s second largest search engine). The data also convey the massive potential it has in offering effective video marketing solutions not just for established companies but also for every local brick and mortar business. YouTube released their own stats in 2014

The Need to Advertise on YouTube

So, why and how should businesses exploit YouTube’s supremacy when it comes to video marketing? Most people nowadays are choosing to watch video over reading traditional text. In fact, Google Analytics has determined that more than half of all web traffic comes from video streaming and this number is growing by the day. YouTube as the top video of choice for individuals and businesses are contributing to tangible benefits where companies are experiencing more exposure and direct sales.

Success in YouTube marketing boils down to producing high-quality video content. All it takes is time and practice. However, a small business might shy away from the idea of competing with other significantly larger and well-budgeted companies. Actually, they don’t have to. The good news is that advertising on YouTube is available for every size and budget. Therefore, small businesses should really embrace using YouTube videos as an integral part of their marketing strategy.

Whether YouTube videos are used to educate an audience, attract more new visitors, or increase subscription, a simple video with quality production, effective editing, and engaging and compelling content will gain more viewership. To create effective content, it is important to leverage on people’s interest. As we know, an ordinary person these days is bombarded with a constant flow of information and this could become quite overwhelming. Thus, the video should be able to create curiosity within the first few seconds while applying consistency in branding.

Promotional videos do not need to be movie-quality but creation entails best practices and techniques in digital marketing which may be a complicated task for companies who are new to YouTube marketing. Apart from video quality, there are several other factors like search engine optimization (SEO), the need for regular fresh video content, social sharing, analytics, community engagement, and much more to consider.

I need to really step up my youtube presence. Thanks for these tips they are definitely helpful

Milena

March 24, 2015

I need to bump up my game on YouTube or at least get game. Great reminder for myself!

Carissa Bonham

March 25, 2015

I was scared of my YouTube channel for a long time thinking I should only post things if they were super high quality and earth shakingly awesome. I’ve recently started experimenting with posting videos shot on my cell phone and they seem to be doing well so far.